"I'm a different fighter," Condit told ESPN. "I'm a bigger, more physically imposing fighter. I'm in my prime right now. And I can't say the same for BJ. I've just come off a loss, the biggest fight of my career. I'm fired up. I'm looking to come back with a vengeance."

He added: "I'm also fired up because I was called out on national television [by MacDonald. I gave him the worst beating of his life. I beat the snot out of him. He can come up with all the excuses that he wants; he's got to fight me again.

"Rory has a lot of hype behind him; people are talking about him. A win over him - another win over him - will put me right back in the [title] mix."

Condit, who held the interim 170-pound belt until his defeat to St-Pierre in Montreal, is taking plenty of positives from the fight.

"I proved that I can compete with the best in the world," Condit said. "I almost had the fight in the bag. With some adjustments and a few tweaks in my game, I'm going to be able to capitalise on those moments that I had in the last fight.

"I think I did a pretty good job. I did the best that I could in preparing for Georges, knowing what I knew. Some things worked and some things didn't; now we have to go back and refine. After a test like that, I have a lot of information to come back a much better fighter."